A few moments of calm

I spent an embarrassing amount of time yesterday and this morning reading about social distancing, and came across this: "COVID-19 gives us an opportunity to frame our fears not in the context of panic or overwhelming anxiety, but as care."

I appreciated this framing. I am a public health person who believes fervently in vaccination I am a person who thinks it is our obligation, in society, to help others in our community. Social distancing helps prevent the spread of infectious disease to vulnerable populations. 

Naturally, I also am thinking of those in my circle. Yes, I have asthma and getting sick could be bad; I'm a very healthy person, though. Sure, I did buy two bottles of Zicam as my contribution to the hoarding mentality. But I really would like the people I know who have cancer, are going through chemo or are otherwise immunocompromised, or have serious lung disease, including my close family member who meets all three of those criteria all at once, to not get sick. So, I'm distancing myself, more to not unwittingly spread any asymptomatic germs than to keep myself safe. 

I'm already pretty socially distanced, working from home. I have grown accustomed, these past two years, to finding ways to get out of the house during the evening and on the weekends. I like the framing of these weird times, though, as an opportunity. 

I should have added something for scale, so that
the size of this tiny cup can be appreciated.

To that end, I made myself a tiny hot toddy in the cutest little cup my sister-in-law Sophie gave me years ago, and sipped it as sat in the tub reading a book that my sister Molly recently sent me out of the blue. I was feeling their care and warmth as I take a pause from my regular routine to take advantage of an opportunity to help my community.

We are stubbornly hung up on a damaging idea of self-reliance.